


Anchors in a Storm

by toughguyhuh



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Boys Kissing, Feelings, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Realization, Sleepy Cuddles, Stiles is Derek's Anchor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 15:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4311438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toughguyhuh/pseuds/toughguyhuh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Stiles finds an out of control Derek lost in the middle of a storm, he feels the need to take him home and out of the rain. Derek's uncontrollable shifting brings a lot of previously hidden feelings from the dark and into the light of Stiles's bedroom, as well as the realization that Derek's anchor is not the pack: it's Stiles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anchors in a Storm

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wrote this fic a long time ago. Two years ago to be exact. It's just been sitting on my tumblr (deathbybandguy) and I finally got a profile here, so I figured I'd post it here! This is my first post on here and I'm really excited for the future of my fics on this site. May post more of my old fics later! Comments/kudos would be appreciated if you like it. :)  
> -Arrington

“Be careful out there son. The weather isn’t looking too good. Don’t want you getting hurt in that Jeep of yours.” Sheriff Stilinski told his son, leaning across the desk to wrap an arm around him. His office was warm and quiet, the only noise was the low buzzing of the mini fridge, surely stocked with beer and frozen dinners. Stiles stood up and pushed the wooden chair under the desk.  
“I’ll be fine dad. I’m going straight home. Don’t worry.” He stepped out of the tiny sheriff’s office and into the main lobby of the station. “Goodnight Stiles,” the lady behind the desk told him as he approached the doors to exit. “Night Ms. Goulding.” 

Stiles’s dad was right. The sky was quickly turning black and it smelled like rain and sky was almost black. He cursed under his breath as he reached his Jeep. He hated driving in the rain. It always made his Jeep skid and it scared him. He climbed in and put the key in the ignition, immediately turning the heat on. Having a piece of crap Jeep sucked, but at least he had transportation. He could have to walk. He put the car in drive and, as expected, the sky opened up just as he began to pull off. Mother Nature was mad at Beacon Hills tonight. 

Stiles had had a long day. He got up at 5:30 to go to work with his father at the station. While he couldn’t do much, working dispatch was tiring. Even in Beacon Hills. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep, even though it was only about 5 pm. The sky was so dark that it looked about 8 or 9 o’clock. 

He took the backroads near the woods to avoid any traffic. The drive back to his house seemed longer than normal because he was driving slower than he would if the weather wasn’t so bad. Plus, if he was going any faster, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the lumped figure on the side of the road. As he got closer, he realized that it was a person. If it hadn’t have been raining, Stiles would have kept driving on by, but if he did that, he would have felt like an ass. But, he also couldn’t risk his life to save some stranger that would do GOD knows what to him. Within the five seconds it took him to evaluate the situation and the consequences, Stiles could make out who it was. Oh great.

They continued to walk, as if not caring that someone was slowing down beside them. Stiles made a complete stop, hoping they would understand his motives. But, like he expected, they just kept trudging along the side of the road, which had quickly become a small, muddy riverbank. 

Stiles rolled down his window a bit. “Hey!” he called out. And just like he thought, he was being ignored. Stubborn. As always. 

He let go of the brakes and the car rolled forward a bit, catching up to the slump of a man that was refusing to listen to him.

“Derek! Stop!”  
To his surprise, this time Derek did stop. He turned around slowly, walking towards the jeep. His hair was disheveled, his clothes soaking wet and torn. 

“Stiles. I can’t…stop…changing.” He barely got out, sounding totally out of breath, his teeth clenched. He seemed angry. It was kind of scary.

“Wha…what do you mean? You’ve gotta get out of the rain. It looks like it’s gonna storm.”

“No. Stiles, listen to me. I can’t stop changing. I can’t control it,” He huffed out.

“Woah. Ok. That isn’t good. Just uh, get in the jeep and we can…” 

“No! I can’t. I might shift. I could kill you.”

Stiles rubbed his chin with his finger and cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“So, let me get to my house.” His voice came out strained as he started to walk away from the jeep.

“Derek! No. Come on man, just get in the jeep. Just because you’re a werewolf doesn’t mean you can’t still get pneumonia. Your house is a good five miles from here. That’s too far. Now, it’s either you get in this jeep and have the possibility of shifting and maybe killing me, or I leave you out here stranded in the rain and you kill me once you’re back to normal and realized that I did that. It’s a lose-lose situation for me either way. Don’t make me drag your little werewolf ass into this jeep, because I will.”

Derek let out a heavy sigh and ripped opened the jeep door. He climbed inside and slumped into the seat. He seemed to be raging with anger and Stiles didn’t know why.

“Buckle up for safety,” Stiles said, smiling at him for a split second before driving off. Derek glared at him but did as he was told. Since when did the Alpha take orders from others?

Stiles didn’t know why he cared so much about Derek getting sick. Or about figuring out why he couldn’t control his shifting. But he did. There was just something about Derek Hale that made Stiles’ stomach wrench and his heart beat just a little bit faster.

The car ride was shockingly quiet on Stiles’ end. He was scared to say anything that would upset Derek even more and make him turn, so he didn’t. Derek on the other hand was making strange, guttural noises, clearly trying to control his shifting. 

After a while, he could see Derek relax a bit, gaining some control. Just a little though. He seemed as if he was trying something out. Like he wasn’t quite sure if it was working. Either way, this was good. Hopefully this meant tonight wouldn’t be the night Stiles died. He’d love to be at least the age of consent before leaving the earth, thanks.

The clouds were getting darker and Stiles could hear the thunder start to roll. The storm was quickly approaching and it was going to be a nasty one. A flash of lightning in the distance almost made him swerve off the road.

“Woah! Sorry! That was insane.” He apologized. It didn’t seem to phase Derek at all. He was still focused on staying completely human. Stiles could tell it was torturing him. Whatever this was, he didn’t like it. Even if Derek hated him, he still didn’t like to see people in pain. Even if they were trying to kill him.

“Oh shit!” Derek said suddenly. 

“What? What is it? Are you shifting? Oh god, I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die!” 

“No you idiot. Look.” Derek pointed ahead of them. Stiles had been too worried about Derek to notice that a massive tree and power lines had fallen down. They were taking over the entire street. Thankfully Derek said something in time because Stiles was so zoned out he probably would’ve ran right into it. Nobody else had ever made him do that. Damn you Derek Hale.

“Well. That’s wonderful. This is the only way to get to your house. What do you want me to do now?” Stiles rested his head against the headrest. 

“I guess just take me to your house. I can go through the woods to my house. You don’t need to drive around anymore. You should get home. Get safe.” 

Woah. Okay. Since when did Derek worry about Stiles’ safety? Since when did Derek even like him? And since when did Stiles even care? Things were getting too weird.

Stiles pulled up to his house, putting his jeep in park. He took the keys out of the ignition. 

“The side door will be quickest to get in to. Let me just unlock it and then you can-.” Before Stiles could even finish, Derek had the keys and was at the door. Stiles climbed out, locking his jeep then shutting the door. He ran to the door to see Derek standing there, holding it open. 

“You were saying?” Derek said, a slight smile appearing on his lips. 

Well, it’s good to know he isn’t angry at the moment. That should help control his shifting. It helped Scott. Was it different for an Alpha? Or did it just differ with every wolf? 

“Uh, you just gonna stand in the rain or-?” Derek asked, opening the door more. He seemed to be a lot different then he was when Stiles picked him up.

“Oh, right.” Stiles walked inside and closed the door behind him. He was massively confused. Derek was no longer seething with anger. He didn’t look like he wanted to rip Stiles apart limb from limb. This wasn’t the shifting werewolf attitude he was used to. Which was fine by him.

Derek was looking around the tiny kitchen, inspecting little knick knacks here and there. 

“Cute house. It’s very…homey.” He said, walking into the living room.

“Thanks. My dad keeps it pretty cozy, doesn’t he?” 

“Yeah, it’s very comforting, in a way.”

“Speaking of comfort. You’ve gotta be real uncomfortable in those clothes. This might be a little forward, but if you don’t wanna go through the storm, you can like, stay here. I know we aren’t really friends or anything, actually I don’t even know what we are? Do you even like me? Ok, that was stupid. You don’t have to stay. Forget I said that. I…”

“Stiles! You’ve saved my life on multiple occasions. I owe you a lot. Even if I didn’t like you, I’d stay if you wanted me to, cause I owe you.” Derek said, taking off his jacket and laying it in the sink to dry.

“Wait you like me?” Stiles was genuinely stunned.

“Well, your best friend is now in my pack. You saved two of my Beta’s. You risk your life to keep Jackson from killing people. I’d say we have a very strange unestablished relationship of sorts. Hell, I’d even go as far to say that, even though you’re not a werewolf…” he strode over towards Stiles, placing his hands on both his shoulders, face nearly inches from his, “you’re pack now.”

Stiles swallowed the lump that was building in his throat. Pack? He was not expecting that. At all. Maybe part of Scott’s pack. But Derek’s? Why did that make him very excited? 

“I…I don’t know what to say, I…wow. Thank you?” He raised an eyebrow and Derek smiled, just nodding in response. 

“Now, these clothes?” Derek asked, peeling his black t-shirt from his torso. 

“Right. Um, if you wanna take a shower it’s down the hall. I can wash those clothes if you want. I might have something you can borrow.” 

“That would be great actually. Cause I wasn’t really looking forward to running almost 3 miles through the woods in a storm.”

“Yeah. Don’t blame you. So, there’s towels in the cabinet in the bathroom. Just leave your clothes outside the door, and I’ll get them.” Stiles said, showing Derek where the bathroom was. 

“I’ll just be in my room.” He said, walking across the hall to his bedroom. He turned the handle to open the door when he heard Derek clear his throat.

“Hey Stiles.”

“Uh…yeah?” He asked turning around.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling wide.

Stiles’ breath hitched in his throat and he barely got out a “you’re welcome” before Derek shut the door. Stiles went in to his room and sat on the edge of the bed.

That feeling in the pit of Stiles’ stomach came back. It was a familiar feeling. Something he’d gotten around someone else besides Derek, but who? He laid back on the bed, thinking.

Once it hit him, there was no turning back. This is the same feeling he got around Lydia. And he was practically in love with Lydia. Stiles wasn’t in love with Derek, was he? No. No way. He’s not gay. Although he did tell his dad he could be. Oh god.

He can not be having these thoughts. Not while Derek was at his house. In his bathroom. Naked. In his shower. Oh this was just fantastic. He hasn’t even been considered a friend of Derek’s for 20 minutes and he likes him? Stiles, you are out of it.

Pushing the thoughts aside, he went to get Derek’s clothes. He didn’t think about the fact that he was holding Derek Hale’s boxer in his hands, nor did he think about looking to see what kind they were. Ok, so maybe he did. And they were boxer-briefs. Funny. Derek struck him as more of a boxers only kind of guy. Or comman-NO! Not going there.

He put them in the washer and started it. He ran back to his room to find something for Derek to wear. He was sure something would fit. Even though he had a very hard time finding something the last time he was here. He settled on a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt. He set them outside the door and went back to his room.

He was trying to figure out why Derek went from being so angry to being so calm in a matter of only 15 minutes. And why he was changing so uncontrollably. He didn’t have much time to think about that because he heard the water shut off. He was preparing himself to see Derek in his clothes. He hadn’t had much time to let this new found crush sink in. This was going to be a disaster. 

Derek came into his room about five minutes later. The t-shirt was a bit tight, revealing every muscle in his back and torso. Oh god. He couldn’t do this.  
“Stiles, I need to tell you something. And I don’t know how I figured this out or why, but you should know.” Derek said, sitting on the edge of Stiles’ bed. Stiles sat up, inching a bit closer.

“Uh, ok,” he said, a little bit worried.

“Ok. It’s going to sound weird. Don’t freak out.” There wasn’t any way he could freak out anymore than he was right now if he tried. He just said a simple ‘okay.’

“Werewolves have this sort of thing we do to keep from shifting. It helps mainly on the full moon, but can be useful at other times. Like tonight. I don’t know why it wasn’t working. It usually never fails and I just don’t-”

Stiles cut him off. “Wait. What is ‘it’?” He made airquotes around ‘it’.

“It’s an anchor. Like, a thought or an emotion to keep you tuned in to your human side. Mine is usually anger, but no matter how mad I got tonight, I still kept shifting. And it’s not the first time either. Getting angry hasn’t worked in a while.”

So that’s why he was so pissed off in the jeep. It’s good to know Stiles had nothing to do with it.

“But when you picked me up, it was like my body was fighting off the anger. Telling me I didn’t need to be mad. That something, or in this case, someone was keeping me human.”

Stiles looked at him with a blank expression. Derek laughed at his cluelessness.

“Stiles. As strange as it seems, I think you’re my anchor. At first I thought it was the pack because when I started to think about them it slowed the shifting, but it never stopped until I thought about you. I don’t know when it changed, but it did. I’ve changed. You have changed me.” Derek looked Stiles in the eyes. Stiles had no idea what to say.

“Derek, I…there’s something you need to know. I think that I ha-”

“Shh,” Derek putting his finger to Stiles’ lips. “There’s something else I figured and I think I know what you’re gonna say. I can feel it in your heartbeat.” Once again, damn you Derek Hale and your werewolf senses. “You’ve figured out the same thing.”

What? 

“Stiles, I’m not sure when it all happened, but between fighting with Jackson and you going from an enemy to protecting my pack, something changed. Between us. It’s like, everything I thought I knew is different. You’re the first person I’ve felt like this about in a long time. I don’t know what to do about it and I’m sounding like a teenage girl and I’m sorry, but I think that-”

Derek couldn’t finish his sentence. For once in his life, Stiles wasn’t the one being quieted. He grabbed Derek by the back of the neck, pulling his lips to his own. But only for a couple of seconds, because he was worried that he wasn’t supposed to do that.

When he pulled away, he scrutinized Derek’s face. There was a smile forming on his lips. A real smile. Something he never thought he’d see from Derek. And to his surprise, Derek’s lips were back on his, a proper kiss this time. 

After a few minutes, they separated. Both with huge smiles on their faces. 

“Woah,” was all Stiles could say. He really just kissed Derek?

“I know.” Derek said, laying back on the bed. Stiles leaned back beside him and was not shocked at all when Derek’s arm wrapped around his waist. He nestled into the pillow, and Derek’s chest. They lay like that in silence for about half an hour, Derek intertwining their fingers at one point. The only sounds to be heard, besides the raging storm outside, was their soft, slow breathing, until Stiles heard the buzzing of the washer.

“Oh, your clothes,” Stiles said, trying to get up to put them in the dryer. 

“Uh uh,” Derek told him, pushing him softly back down onto the bed. He rested his head in the crook of Stiles’ neck, and said, “they’ll be there in the morning.” His breath was hot on Stiles’ skin and it sent shivers down his back. 

The comfort of Derek’s arms was enough for Stiles not to ever want to leave his bed again. Derek placed the duvet over top them both and Stiles turned so his head was on Derek’s chest. He could hear his heart beating through the thin fabric of his t-shirt. It was making him fall asleep. There was nowhere in the world Stiles would rather be than right here, right now.

Stiles could definitely get used to this.


End file.
